By Chris Oddo | Friday October 6, 2017
Rafael Nadal broke open a tight match by blanking John Isner in a second-set tiebreaker to book his spot in the Beijing semis.
Photo Source: Getty
Rafael Nadal cruised into the semifinals of the China Open with a 6-4, 7-6(0) win over John Isner on Friday to set a clash with Grigor Dimitrov.
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Nadal increased his tour-level winning streak to ten matches and improved to 59-9 on the season, and 32-7 on hardcourts.
The World No.1 saved all three break points he faced and broke critically in the ninth game of the first set before holding to take a one set to love lead.
The second set was tight until the tiebreaker, when Nadal broke it open with a series of brilliant shots. He opened the tiebreaker with a perfect lob for a mini-break and never looked back, reeling off the final seven points of the match.
Nadal will face Dimitrov for the 10th time and the first time since their epic five-set semifinal at this year’s Australian Open. The Bulgarian powered past Roberto Bautista Agut in straight sets to improve to 28-7 on hardcourts this season.
Nadal owns a 8-1 lifetime record but Dimitrov upset Nadal at Beijing last year in the quarterfinals.